‘You’ve got a five-minute headstart.’ He raised an arm close to his face. With the other hand, he pushed a button to light the numbers on his wrist watch. ‘Go.’
‘What is this?’
‘The hunt. And your time is running.’
Kim swung around and dashed away from the man. She didn’t head toward the trail sign. Instead, she ran for the end of the clearing. This was the way the car had come. She might reach a road.
He’s not going to let me get away, she thought. This is just part of it. A goddamn game. I’m not going to get out of here alive. That’s what he thinks.
I haven’t got a chance.
Oh yes I do, oh yes I do.
She dodged a bush, raced through the gap between two trees, and shortened her strides when she met a downslope.
Car couldn’t have come this way, she realized. The bastard must’ve turned it around before he stopped. Knew I’d try this.
I’m running away from the road.
She wondered how much time had passed. Her five minutes couldn’t be up yet.
He won’t give me five, she thought. He’s probably already after me.
But she couldn’t hear anything back there. She heard only her huffing breath, her heartbeat, her shoes crunching pine needles and mashing cones and snapping twigs.
I’m making too much noise.
Then a foot slipped out from under her. She saw her leg fly up. Saw the treetops. Slammed the ground and slid on her back, forest debris raking her shirt up, scraping her skin. When the skid stopped, she lay sprawled and didn’t move except to suck air into her lungs.
I can’t run from him, Kim told herself. He’ll catch me easy. Gotta sneak. Gotta hide.
Sitting up, she peered down the slope. It wasn’t heavily wooded. The dense trees were off to the sides. She stood. She glanced toward the top. No sign of him yet. But time had to be running out.
In a low crouch, she traversed the slope. Soon, she left the moonlight behind. The dark of the forest felt wonderful - a sheltering blanket of night. She walked slowly, trying not to make a sound as she stepped around the trunks of spruce and fir trees, ducked under drooping branches.
The place smelled like Christmas.
Play it right, she told herself, and maybe you’ll see another Christmas.
How good is this guy? she wondered. Is he good enough to track me through all this in the dark?
He wouldn’t have let me go if he wasn’t sure he’d find me.
There must be a way. I just have to be smarter than him.
He’s after me by now, she thought. Even if he did wait the whole five minutes.
Kim stepped behind a tree, turned around, and scanned the woods. Except for a few milky flecks of moonlight, the area was black and shades of gray. She saw the faint shapes of nearby trees and saplings. Nothing seemed to move.
You won’t spot him till he’s right on top of you, she realized, recalling his dark clothes and makeup.
She looked down at herself. Her legs were dim smears, her shorts dark, but her T-shirt almost seemed to glow. Muttering a curse, she pulled it off. She tucked it into the front of her shorts, so it hung from her waist. That was better. She was tanned except for her breasts, and they weren’t nearly as white as the shirt.
Turning around, Kim made her way toward a deadfall. The roots of the old tree formed a clump nearly as high as her head. Bushes and vines had grown around the trunk. She considered climbing over the dead tree, but decided to bypass it, instead.
As she neared the mound of dirt-clogged roots, she noticed a space between the trunk and the ground. Kneeling, she peered into the opening. It was exposed, but she would be out of sight if she squirmed to where a thick nest of bushes grew in front of the trunk.
The idea of being trapped beneath the dead tree didn’t appeal to her. Probably a host of nasty creatures under there - ants, spiders, termites, slugs. They would crawl on her.
Besides, she told herself, if it looks like a good hiding place to me, it’ll look like one to him. If he comes this way, he’ll check it out. And he’ll have me.
Forget it.
She hurried around the root cluster and headed to the right of the deadfall. With the barrier at her back, she broke into a run and didn’t bother moving from tree to tree for concealment. She dashed as fast as she could, staying clear of trees, dodging occasional clusters of rock, circling patches of underbrush. At last, winded and aching, she ducked behind a trunk. She bent over and held her sweaty knees and gasped for air.
That little burst of speed, she thought, ought to put some ground between us. He can’t run all-out, not if he’s tracking me.
How can he track someone in the dark? she wondered. It wouldn’t be easy, even in daylight, to follow her signs. What does he look for, anyway? Broken twigs?
Kim pulled the T-shirt from her waist band and mopped her wet face, her dripping sides, her neck and chest and belly. As she tucked the shirt into her shorts again, she wondered if the Butcher might have a night-vision device. Maybe an infra-red scope, or something.
That would explain a lot.
He seemed so sure he’d find me.
Maybe took it out of his car while he was giving me the headstart.
How can I hide from something like that?
They pick up body heat? she wondered.
What if I bury myself?
That idea seemed just as bad as hiding under the deadfall.
Sighing, Kim leaned back against the tree. Its bark felt stiff and scratchy. A quiet scurrying sound made her flinch. But it came from above. Probably a squirrel up there, she thought.
What about climbing a tree?
Even if the Butcher figured out that she had gone up a tree to hide, there were thousands. She could climb high enough to be invisible from the ground. The limbs and foliage might even offer some protection from a night scope, if he had such a thing.
If he does find me, Kim thought, he’ll have a damn tough time getting to me.
He could probably shoot me out of it. That won’t be easy if I’m high enough. And he might be afraid of the noise. The sound of gunfire would carry a long distance. Somebody might hear it.
Besides, I’d rather be shot than taken alive. Quick and clean.
If he doesn’t shoot me down, his only other choice is to go up after me. That’ll make him vulnerable.
‘All right!' Kim whispered. ‘Let’s make it even tougher.’
She stepped out from under the tree. Crouching, she studied the ground. Here and there, the faint gray shapes of rocks jutted through the mat of pine needles. She gathered several, choosing those that were large enough to fill her hand - large enough to do some real damage. When she had six, she spread her shirt on the ground. She piled them onto the shirt, brought up its corners, and knotted it to form a makeshift sack.
Swinging the load at her side, Kim wandered through the trees until she found a stand of five that were grouped very closely together. Their branches met and intertwined, forming a dark mass.
Perfect.
She hurried to the center tree, saw that it had no handholds within easy reach, and went to the tree beside it. The lowest limb of this one was level with Kim’s face. After the first limb, it looked as if the going would be easy.